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Babylon 5 influences
This article discusses literary and other influences upon the popular science fiction television series Babylon 5 (hereafter "B5"). Cultural influences The Lord of the Rings Several elements in B5 seem a lot like elements in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. For instance, in The Fellowship of the Ring, the Dark Riders first appear singly, then in progressively larger groups; B5 repeated this tension-building pattern early in its first season, when enemy forces known as the Shadows appear first singly, and then in vast numbers. The most obvious LOTR reference is the Rangers, who share a name and a mission with the Rangers of Lord of the Rings. Both are secretive orders that work covertly to protect a populace that is either unaware or openly hostile to them, and both are led by individuals of mixed race – Aragorn, who had blood of Men, Elves, and Valar, and the half-human, half-Minbari Delenn. The code of the Rangers, as stated by Marcus Cole in the episode "Grey 17 is Missing", is: "We walk in the dark places that no one else will enter. We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass." This is reminiscent of two scenes from Lord of the Rings. The first is Aragorn's description of his Rangers during the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring: "Lonely men are we, Rangers of the North, hunters - but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy"; and the second is Gandalf's confrontation with the Balrog over the abyss in Moria, in particular his cry of "You shall not pass!" before he shatters the bridge. Furthermore, Gandalf has previously been warned (by Aragorn, no less) that he will die if he enters Moria (also known as Khazad-dûm); in B5, captain John Sheridan is warned that he will die if he goes to a planet called Z'ha'dum. Both men sacrifice themselves, fall into an abyss, and return in an altered form to unite the forces of good against the forces of evil. Also, B5 takes place at "the dawn of the third age", and the defeat of Sauron in Lord of the Rings is considered to be the ending event of the third age of Middle-earth. The name Narns might be derived either from C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, or from Tolkien's Narn i Hîn Húrin in The Silmarillion which was itself almost certainly the inspiration for the name Narnia. The name of Tolkien's heart of elvendom, "Lórien" (or "Lothlorien") is given to the first of the First Ones in B5. (See "Lorien") The name of the Shadows' agent, Mr. Morden, may also reflect Tolkien's Mordor. The creator of B5, J. Michael Straczynski (JMS), acknowledges Tolkien when a "techno-mage" loosely quotes The Fellowship of the Ring, where the character Gildor Inglorion says, "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." JMS has stated that people misunderstand the similarities between the two different stories. He often says that B5 is "greatly informed by" but "is not" any particular preceding work of fiction or history. Shakespeare A plethora of Shakespearian quotes and misquotes peppers Babylon 5 dialogue, Macbeth being a notable favorite. The legend of King Arthur Two episodes highlight the influence of the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The Battle of the Line is an analogy of King Arthur's final battle. Delenn is associated with the Lady of the Lake. Sheridan is unquestionably King Arthur, gathering the disparate alien races under one alliance. Lennier reveals himself as Lancelot when he betrays the Rangers over his feelings for Delenn, and Kosh may literally or figuratively be Merlin. Marcus Cole suggests that Kosh, like Merlin, might see the future by remembering it, and that Kosh may have visited Earth and modeled the Round Table after his acquaintances on Babylon 5. Excalibur appears at least twice in the series: once as an actual sword and again as the ship charged with finding a cure for the Drakh plague and saving Earth, the second Victory class destroyer (the Victory herself, and the shipyards to construct more vessels of her class, were destroyed shortly after Victory was launched). Note the episode: "A Late Delivery from Avalon." Finally, there also is the obvious reference to the Holy Grail in the eponymous episode. Forbidden Planet The Great Machine on Epsilon 3 in the episode "A Voice in the Wilderness" appears to be an homage to the ancient Krell machine in the movie Forbidden Planet (1956), especially in the overhead shot of a narrow bridge that runs through a vast space surrounded by alien machinery. However, JMS said that he did that because it looked right, and it would not have mattered if it wasn't the shot from Forbidden Planet. Ancient Greek myth Many of the Earth Alliance ships in B5 are named after characters from Greek or Roman myths, such as Sheridan's command prior to Babylon 5, the Agamemnon. JMS has said repeatedly that G'Kar is his Cassandra character, who predicts the future but whose warnings go unheard. The frequent quotation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Ulysses in the series could also be seen as a reference to Greek myths. Alfred Bester Science fiction writer Alfred Bester provided the inspiration for Babylon 5's telepathic Psi Corps in his 1953 novel The Demolished Man. In the novel, telepaths band together under the control of the "Esper Guild", which is very similar to the Psi Corps -- with the exception that they are a benevolent society of telepaths, and not sinister like the Psi Corps. Straczynski paid homage to Bester by naming a main telepath character, Alfred Bester, after the author. The Chronicles of Dune JMS noted in the DVD release of Babylon 5 that one of his favorite science fiction stories is Frank Herbert's Dune. There may be analog between the Padisha Empire and the Centauri, the Psi Corps or the Bene Gesserit, the Vorlons and the Spacing Guild, the Narn and Fremen. Other cultural influences *''The Prisoner'' - the Psi Corps show many similarities to this British television series, including a modified salute and use of the phrase "Be seeing you". *The EarthForce Destroyers bear a striking resemblance to the Russian spacecraft Aleksei Leonov from 2010: Odyssey Two. *The design of the Babylon 5 space station itself appears to be based upon the concept of an O'Neill cylinder, a space habitat design proposed by the physicist and space pioneer Gerard K. O'Neill in his 1973 book The High Frontier. *Other book, television, and film influences include Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Outland, Blake's 7, E. E. Smith's Lensman novels; and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. *The idea of monks preserving technology after a devastating nuclear war on earth as seen in the episode "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" seems to be at least influenced by the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.. *Several scenes visually refer to other works, usually other tv shows or movies, such as the scene in "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" in which Lord Refa is killed, which recreates a similar scene from the film Cabaret. *One final influence should be obvious: the history of ancient Babylon and Babylonian creation myth. Historical and political influences Roman History and I, Claudius The Centauri Emperor Cartagia believes himself a god. His demise leads to Londo's unlikely ascention to the throne, and then ultimately to Vir's even more unlikely succession. This parallels the story of Claudius (a stammering cripple, never seriously considered a contender), who is made Emperor of Rome when mad Emperor Caligula (another self-appointed god, and note the similarity of the names) is killed. The Centauri also use murder (especially by poison) as a political tool, almost as frequently as described in the novel I, Claudius by Robert Graves. Other historical and political influences *World War II ("There will be peace in our time," remarks a human diplomat after signing a treaty with the Centauri, who later overrun much of the galaxy). *One of the Night Watch members in the third season quotes Thomas Jefferson: "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom," to support the concept of Nightwatch, whereas Jefferson meant it as a warning against the idea. *The diplomatic set-up on Babylon 5 is clearly modeled on the United Nations with the five member Babylon 5 Advisory Council roughly analogous to the Security Council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds representing the General Assembly. *Another historical reference is the assassination of JFK, pre-figuring the assassination of Earth Alliance President Luis Santiago. Following the assassination, the swearing in of Morgan Clark is designed to re-create the scene aboard Air Force One when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in. Other Influences Freud This one may seem dubious, but the dutiful viewer must contrast Babylon 5's effeminate, womb-like form to the Excalibur's phallic presence. Babylon 5 is a "dream given form" and the symbol of the dream recurs, notably in Londo's dream of his own death and in a subtle reference, "you can't let that destroy the dream," while Sheridan is on Z'ha'dum. Joseph Campbell JMS has remarked that B5 doesn't deliberately follow Joseph Campbell's myth-arc but he acknowledges that many of its elements are present. Christianity Despite JMS's professed atheism, Babylon 5 contains many references to Christian ideas. Several episode titles refer, directly or indirectly, to elements of the Christian faith, notably the third season episode "Passing Through Gethsemane", but also "A Voice in the Wilderness" and "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" (which is also the title of a lively gospel song). Moreover, the monks led by Brother Theo may not be explicitly Christian, but certainly seem based on Christian monastic orders. Overall, Babylon 5 strove for even-handedness in its treatment of religions, notably in the multi-faith gatherings in the episodes "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" and "The Parliament of Dreams", although arguably the appearance of Kosh in the guise of a Christian angel was intentionally subversive. References # The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5: A Voice in the Wilderness. Retrieved January 4, 2006 Category:Babylon 5